Description of the Mentor/Supervisor Role

A mentor or supervisor is a lay, ordered or ordained person serving in ministry (or an approved agency) who provides on-site guidance and support to placement students. In the normative context of change in the church and society, the mentor/supervisor is a seasoned leader, normally with at least 5-years employed pastoral experience, who is willing to venture with the student into unknown territory presented by new challenges and opportunities. The Theological Field Education program at VST generally uses both terms mentor and supervisor in the program; sometimes the nuances of each are helpful in the relationship with a student. Often the roles are mixed. The term mentor focuses on the character of the leader and the student’s involvement in choosing their mentor. This, generally speaking, is the focus of TFE-P: Leadership in Practice. In TFE-FC: Leadership in Faith Community, we tend to place the emphasis on the experience and skill of the supervisor in the tradecraft of their ministry leadership and in the church’s identification of that person as a teacher.

Field placement mentors and supervisors have developed finely tuned skills in pastoral ministry, theological reflection, spiritual discernment and adaptive leadership over many years of study, spiritual discipline and experience. The teacher as learner is a key principle in successful Theological Field Education and so mentors/supervisors recognize that they, too, are learning as they guide their students.

The role of the mentor/supervisor is to assist students to reflect on their experiences of doing ministry. While the mentor/supervisor may express compassion, he or she also needs to be firm in the expectations of the covenant. TFE, with skilled oversight, can be an opportunity for the student to reflect on the realities of life they are going to encounter in ministry.

Mentors/supervisors may wish to consult with their students regarding texts being currently used in their pastoral theology courses. Often mentors/supervisors have benefited from reading a chapter, article or book during the period of the placement.

Mentors/supervisors will have the opportunity to meet with the Director of Theological Field Education for orientation to the program and will have resources and forms made available to them.